Refrigerator system



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Parental Nov.. 1o, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENroFFlcE.

HAZOR J. SMITH, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, F lONE-:FOURTH TO WILLARD REID, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ONE-FOURTH T0 ALFRED BUCKLEY, JR., OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, AND ONE-FOURTH TO JOHN W. SCOTT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

BEFRIGEBATOR SYSTIEJ:A

Application-med June 5, l1'920, Serial No. 386,884. Renewed March 31, 1925.

v To all whom t may concern." Z

Be it-known that I, HAzoRJ.4 SMITH, a citizen. o f the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and 6 State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and.. useful Improvements in Itefrigerator Systems, of which the followlng is a s ciication.

f This invention relates to a system of re- 10 frigeration of the type usually employed to cool an ice box in a rivate home although lits use is in nowise limited thereto, and has for-,its object to produce a machine which will\automatically complete its freezing work and at the same time be susceptible of control from the brine temperature. v

. My invention consists in the novel arrangement and combination of parts more awfully' pointed out hereinafter and particu- Off-l'arly described in the appended claims.'

' j In thev drawing, which is to be taken ,merely illustrative of one manner of carryin out my invention.

, e figure is a diagrammatic vview-of a cooling'system constructed according to my invention.

The gas used in this system is ethyl chloride, which enters'la compressor shown diag'rammatically at A. Upon compression it passes in gaseous form to the condenser B assuming the liquid form, thence passing to the receiver at the' end of the condenser shown at C. Passing through an expansionvalve D of ordinary construction it enters the bottom of element E which is an ice freezing chamber. This member is composed of an outer shell 2f'1lled with insulating material 3 such as cork or its equivalent which surrounds achamber 4 for. the passage 40 of the expanding. ethyl chloride. Adjacent .this gas chamber on the inside is a brine v space 5 surrounding an ice can 6. Thiscan is adapted to be illed with water and thus both a refrigerating action may be had to cool the household ice box and at the same time produce ice in any desired form for `drinking'water or other use.

Connected to member E in series andconconstructed to receive the/ex anding ethyl chloride from the top of said reezin' vchamber is a brine tank Fand expander rum G.

This tank consists of a brine tank 7 'e11- closing within itself an annular' gas chamber heat and chilling the brine.

G for the ethyl chloride. The brine tank F is `provided with a central air passage 8, The ethyl chloride may or may not be com-l pletely gasied by the time it leaves the freezing chamber, but upon reaching the expanderl drum, complete evaporation takes place thereby absorbing'its full capacity of, This brine tank serves asa cold storage member to maintain a temperature equilibrium in the ice box. The air 'in the box is free to circulate on all sides 'and down the center passage of the tank and the large amount of exposed surface of the tank adds greatly to the eiiiciency of the machine.

Interposed inthe system at the tail end of the frost line or at the point of greatest temperature Variation, such as inthe brine tank 4F, I provide a thermostatic control or bulb H 'connected to the driving motor, to regulate the Ystopping and starting thereof.

When the machine is in operation and the temperature of'the ethyl chloride or brine around it drops'below the point at which control H is set, the motor will be automatithe normal manne r,'the machine will conthermostatic bulb reaches the point at `cally cut off, that is, when once started in i,

80 tinue to run until the temperature at the which it is set to cut out. When the temperature of tank F rises vabove the setting of thermal control H, the motor is started and the operation continues.

Before entering the compressor A the gas.'

passes through a check valveof ordinary construction J which' prevents the reverse flow of the sealing medium while the Ina-` chine is idle. When the machine stops runningthe check valve is closed, as will be readily understood, due to the difference in pressure -of the high'and low sides.

. By this arrangement of parts, it is possible toA clean `either the expander drum in the brine tank or the ice tank assembly Aby merely breaking the line on the low pressure side'of the expansion valve D.l The resulting evaporation of the'ethylA chloride reverses the normal flow of the same and cleans out thatfpart of the system between f the two valves D and J. This is highly important from a service standpoint.

Outside of any mechanical device used, I have applied certain scientiic laws that are highly valuable in practice which comprise certain balances established in this invention.

Any modification of the vbalances will lengthen or shorten the running time and the time given to freezing. The surface of the freezer and the differential established between the freezing water and the refrigerating agent will determine how much. heat will pass and these characteristics necessari'- ly determine the degree of effect which the imposition of the freezer will have on the normal expansion lines. A machine of a total fixed capacity will chill'a given body of brine to a certain temperature in a given time. Now superimpose another body ofwater to be chilled and frozen. Allow this body to furnish heat to the refrigerant -before it enters expansion coil in the 'brine tank. Part of the total capacity of the machine is being absorbed by this superimposed load. The excess passes on to the brine tank. I have established a ratio, or balance, between these two elements-viz, the brine tank and the freezer, so that when the machine starts to run itwill continue -to run, if there is any superimposed load in freezer, until freezer load is removed by having the water frozen and no longer giving up heat. Any change in the balance established in this process will change the relative running periods.

` If the balance is incorrect the machine will reduce the temperature of the brine to the cut-out point before the water is frozen.

The machine then would stop running and leave the water partly frozen. The fact that the capacity of the compressorvaries nearly directly with the vacuum of the low side in ethyl chloride ma- 40 the major capacity factor to bring the abchines gives'me a means whereby I can alter sorption capacity of the low side elements up to it andetherefore strike a balance, or rather bringthe capacity of the compressor down to the maximum heat absorption capacity of lthe low :side when the freezer is not in use, and then the surface of the freezing waterexposed to the cooling of the evaporating agent will produce a factor of transfer that Vcan be readily balanced with the brine surfaces to determine the elapsed time of freezing. y v

The capacity factor of the compressor can be altered by adjusting the evapoiating tension of the low'side which alters the volumetric capacity of the compressor. Any altering ofthe back pressure of the low side will alter the evaporating tension of tlie .lw side. i

As a' matter of illustration, 1ct thel co Ag'essor A have a thermal factor of 1,000

t. u. per hour, let the ice box take on.'500 B. t. u. per hour, let the brine body have suicient weight so that its total specific` heat through the 5 F.1.range`bfI the therof the brine 5 degrees to `where the ther- 70 mostat cuts out. yIt will stand idle until the brine has taken on 500 B. t. u. from the ice box and its temperature raised by this heat to where the thermostat cuts inand starts the motor. Now place 3 pounds of 75 water at 56 degrees Fahr. in the freezer E. This water will require the vextraction of 500 B. t. u. to freeze it. Thecan and cell have surfacelenough to permit the passage of 250 B. t. u. per hour from lthe water to the refrigerating agent within the wall of the cell. The relationship of the Various heat factors reduced to time are as follows:

The compressor can handle 1,000 B. t. u. per hour. The freezer supplies 250 B. t. u., .85

the ice box givesA the brine 500 B. t. u.,

whichis 7 50 B. t. u. or 250 B. t. u. less than the capacityof the compressor. Now the' excess capacity of the compressor is used to cool the brine and reduce its temperature and in the hour we have an excess factor of 250 B. t. u. which will reduce the brine body 2% F. and in order to bring the brine to the cut out point of 5. F. lower than the cut in, we must run 'two hours and in thati 05 two hours we have frozen the water by extracting its 500 B. t. u.

The balance is established between the compressor and the rest of the cycle by giving the brine tank absorption capacity and `weight vsuflicient to esta lish any running proportion desired. It may run only one third of the time if the box takes on one third of the capacity of the compressor.

Whatever ratio of run to stand is found the transfer capacity of the freezer must be such as to modify the total heat given to the compressor to the extent of supplying enough heat to prevent the compressor aining on the brine'faster than the'pre eter- 110 mined lfreezing period. The setting of the expansion valve 1s a verymaterial factor in not only reducing the capacity of the compressor or increasing it as vthe case may be lbut also inthe concentrating ofthe refrigerative effort nearer the head of the expansion lines or extending that elford fartheralong the lines. Heat will be absorbed directly proportionate to the differential established and therefore, a higher tension will lengthen the differential inthe freezer and shorten the lines of evaporation in the brine cooler, thus materially changing the balances between the two elements.

The back pressure determines the capacity of the compressor. `The expansion valve determines the back pressure. By adjusting the expansion valve the capacity of the com ressor is changed to balance any cycle as will be readily understood.

- What is clamedvis:

- 1. In a; household refrigerating machine of;v the type described, the combination of, a. compressor, a condenser, an automaticv ex pansion valve, a brine tank, a brine cooling expanslon drum Withln sind tank, a freezing container interposed in the expansion line behind the lexpansion valve and'ahead 'of the expansion drum, land means for controlling thevoperation of the compressor -1 the .expansion yvalve may be set to vary the 15 `capac'ityfof the compressor. v

Intestimony whereof I affixl my signature.' \IIAZOR J. SMITH. 

